luxury.

After a long string of annoying illnesses during the holiday season, our family bumped back into Tbilisian life slowly. We nestled in, took care and enjoyed having our Eastern European home blanketed in a deep winter's snow.

But as the weather started to turn this last week, and a potential hope of Spring now flutters in my brain, the lists of projects-- craftiness, cooking, gardening-- and sites to explore in the city mounts. But, alas, we're not quite to spring (or projecting and exploring warmth). It is that annual weird 'in between' season right now. We're still quietly shedding a bit of winter as we look ahead to resuming morning walks, digging into the earth of our backyard and pulling out fabrics with some blooms on them.

So, we've continued to feather our nest and move in a bit deeper by treating ourselves to a few new goodies. Other people doing the expat trail will recognize the familiar move pattern that seems to be repeated with each new adventure. First, downsizing to prepare for a move, then going through all the little in between steps to arrange logistics, stepping on a plane, waiting for your shipment to arrive in your new host country, setting up your new home, fixing 'problems' with your new home, getting to know the country as if on a honeymoon, crashing a bit from everything you've been through (and perhaps, as in our case, taken your family through) and then eventually emerging to take stock of making yourself a bit more comfortable. We're in that final phase right now.

We've welcomed the addition of a television set to finish out some winter movie watching and a couple of big overstuffed beanbag chairs for the kids' room. We've updated our cleaning supplies in anticipation of Spring's arrival (I know, boring to some, but you should see my new self-wringing mop and a locally stitched bamboo handled broom! Exciting. Truly.). New curtains are sewn and hung. And, true luxury? We finally have a mirror in our bathroom, the generator's battery has been replaced and a water tank (to cope with the rolling water outages in this city) has been installed beneath the house. Ahhh...

OH... And for those dying to know what dress I would have worn to the Oscars this year? It would have been the one that stole my heart when I first saw it-- the gorgeous deep magenta Chanel with golden brocade tipping. Talk about luxury...